D. Robert MacDougall is associate professor of philosophy at New York City College of Technology (CUNY).

• Chapter 1: The Political Tasks of BioethicsChapter 2: Bioethics and Its Political Philosophy ProblemChapter 3: Bioethicists on Kant and the Legalization of Organ MarketsChapter 4: Kantian Moral Theory and the Problem of Political LegitimacyChapter 5: Rights as the Basis for Political LegitimacyChapter 6: Government Authority and Morally Justifiable CoercionChapter 7: Kidney Markets and the Limits of LegitimacyChapter 8: Legal Standards of Informed Consent and the Authority of the State

In the face of a political viewpoint–governed pluralism in existing complex modern societies, MacDougall argues for a Kantian approach toward political judgments about what makes for legitimate governmental regulation with regard to health policy and law, with emphasis on patient consent as well as the market in human organs, as distinct from pertinent moral judgments about what makes for relevant moral actions and clinical judgments with respect to guidelines for medical professionals. Given this approach, governmental regulation is legitimate only if it provides citizens the right to be free of supervision by others under "universal law.” Kantian universality is radically egalitarian and, as such, irreconcilable with actual political practice even in the strongest liberal democracies. The book’s contribution lies in MacDougall's struggle to render Kantian universalism plausible within the context of bioethics despite the existing odds. Recommended. Graduate students and faculty.

D. Robert MacDougall is associate professor of philosophy at New York City College of Technology (CUNY).

• Chapter 1: The Political Tasks of BioethicsChapter 2: Bioethics and Its Political Philosophy ProblemChapter 3: Bioethicists on Kant and the Legalization of Organ MarketsChapter 4: Kantian Moral Theory and the Problem of Political LegitimacyChapter 5: Rights as the Basis for Political LegitimacyChapter 6: Government Authority and Morally Justifiable CoercionChapter 7: Kidney Markets and the Limits of LegitimacyChapter 8: Legal Standards of Informed Consent and the Authority of the State

In the face of a political viewpoint–governed pluralism in existing complex modern societies, MacDougall argues for a Kantian approach toward political judgments about what makes for legitimate governmental regulation with regard to health policy and law, with emphasis on patient consent as well as the market in human organs, as distinct from pertinent moral judgments about what makes for relevant moral actions and clinical judgments with respect to guidelines for medical professionals. Given this approach, governmental regulation is legitimate only if it provides citizens the right to be free of supervision by others under "universal law.” Kantian universality is radically egalitarian and, as such, irreconcilable with actual political practice even in the strongest liberal democracies. The book’s contribution lies in MacDougall's struggle to render Kantian universalism plausible within the context of bioethics despite the existing odds. Recommended. Graduate students and faculty.

D. Robert MacDougall is associate professor of philosophy at New York City College of Technology (CUNY).

• Chapter 1: The Political Tasks of BioethicsChapter 2: Bioethics and Its Political Philosophy ProblemChapter 3: Bioethicists on Kant and the Legalization of Organ MarketsChapter 4: Kantian Moral Theory and the Problem of Political LegitimacyChapter 5: Rights as the Basis for Political LegitimacyChapter 6: Government Authority and Morally Justifiable CoercionChapter 7: Kidney Markets and the Limits of LegitimacyChapter 8: Legal Standards of Informed Consent and the Authority of the State

In the face of a political viewpoint–governed pluralism in existing complex modern societies, MacDougall argues for a Kantian approach toward political judgments about what makes for legitimate governmental regulation with regard to health policy and law, with emphasis on patient consent as well as the market in human organs, as distinct from pertinent moral judgments about what makes for relevant moral actions and clinical judgments with respect to guidelines for medical professionals. Given this approach, governmental regulation is legitimate only if it provides citizens the right to be free of supervision by others under "universal law.” Kantian universality is radically egalitarian and, as such, irreconcilable with actual political practice even in the strongest liberal democracies. The book’s contribution lies in MacDougall's struggle to render Kantian universalism plausible within the context of bioethics despite the existing odds. Recommended. Graduate students and faculty.